


MOONRIVER

by applejwoos (kenmarcadeblues)



Series: married to the music [5]
Category: ATEEZ (Band)
Genre: ?? idk why i can’t tag this well I’m sorry, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Historical, Alternate Universe - Not K-Pop Idols, Angst, Betrayal, Drama, Hopeful Ending, Inspired by Music, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Past Lives, Promises, Reincarnation, Tags May Change, Time Skips, gay feelings...simmering...yes, these tags are vague but also not vague good luck
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-03
Updated: 2020-01-03
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:28:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,362
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21742213
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kenmarcadeblues/pseuds/applejwoos
Summary: Did I ever truly live or die until I met you?This is what Seonghwa asks himself after coming across Hongjoong.Again.And again.
Relationships: Kim Hongjoong/Park Seonghwa
Series: married to the music [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1121622
Kudos: 5





	MOONRIVER

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> because of ateez’s 1st anniversary event and the love I have for [this cover](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXiFHDfvn4A)

CIRCA 14TH CENTURY BCE

  
It was approaching sun-down as Park Seonghwa trudged towards the river, clothes bundles in his arms. Usually doing the wash was Injung’s line of work, but as of late the baby in the woman’s belly had grown so heavy that she couldn’t move without aches and pains. Seonghwa had no choice but to pick up the slack. 

He sighed as he set the bundles on the ground and stared at his muted reflection in the water. He’d left too late today but didn’t think of bringing a candle. He would need to work quickly if he wanted to have an easy walk home.

As Seonghwa dipped and scrubbed and swished and squeezed—many times over—the sun took its final breaths of day. 

He could scarcely see his hands anymore as he wrung out the last garment he’d brought with him: a baby’s shirt. It hadn’t been worn in a very, very long time. That would change soon.

His gaze followed ripples of his own creation outward from the riverbank. A short distance from where they ended was the most curious sight.

There was a man out on the water. His bare feet did not dip below the waterline; he rested on the water’s surface like a feather. Meanwhile, his arms reached towards the heavens. He had hands that grabbed at the moon as if it were not a lifetime away but right within his grasp.

And somehow, it was. When the man pulled at the celestial body, his fingers got dusted with glow. Seonghwa was entranced, barely daring to breathe as the mysterious person bent down to the river and spread the glowing dust into it. Directly below the moon, the water was no longer dark. Silvery and white-ish light colored its ripples.

“What are you?” Seonghwa breathed. 

Although barely above a whisper, the man heard him and turned his head. “Mortal, I am none of your concern,” he replied, not unkindly. Narrow-faced and sharp of eye, he appeared human. But there was nothing earthly about him. 

He carried on with his task; once again attending to the moon, collecting its glow, and distributing it artfully. Like this, the man painted the moon’s reflection on the river. It looked no different than any other night and it was no less enchanting. Cast in moonlight, the unearthly man’s profile was dreamlike. 

Despite the beauty to behold, Seonghwa’s thick brows creased in displeasure, unsatisfied. “Please, I must know what you are; for you are the loveliest being I ever have gazed upon.” His own words stunned him as they feathered out into the cool evening air. 

The man stood and whirled around fully. 

Seonghwa’s heartbeat flew to his ears as a slender, softly radiant form strode towards him, graceful and quick. “I—I only _mean—_ ”

“Do not deny yourself,” the man told Seonghwa once he met him at the water’s edge. “I feel your heart, and know that it is sincere.”

Somehow, Seonghwa knew it to be true. He knew that the man knew his heart, and it was at once frightening and comforting. What was the extent of this being’s powers? “Then, sincerely,” Seonghwa got out with a gulp as he got onto his feet, a bit unsteady from sitting for so long, “tell me what you are.”

“Simply put, I come from the divine order Above. My life’s purpose is to serve this realm. You may call me _Hongjoong_.” There was a particular pride when he said his name.

“Honored to meet you, Hongjoong. My name is Park Seonghwa.” Seonghwa bowed deeply, and after a moment, added, “I’m a human.”

“Seonghwa, a human.” Hongjoong’s striking features scrunched as he laughed. “Yes, I’m aware. Of course you are.”

Seonghwa shot him an awkward smile. “R-right.” He wanted to speak again but paused right then, looking conflicted. 

He could ask a million questions. He had the opportunity to find out the secrets of the universe, possibly learn the fabric of reality. But night had fallen, and his very pregnant wife was waiting for him at home. (No matter that he didn’t love Injung in quite the way he was supposed to—he cared deeply for her nonetheless, and she deserved a good husband.)

“Excuse me,” he said, regarding Hongjoong respectfully. He began tying up the cloth bundles which were refilled with (now clean) laundry. 

Hongjoong floated onto the riverbank and lowered slowly into the sand, his toes wiggling interestedly as he did. He ventured closer to the human and frowned at the negative energy teeming around him. “Human-Seonghwa, what is making you anxious? Other than my otherworldly looks.”

“You do not make me anxious,” Seonghwa lied. He avoided Hongjoong’s gaze, not wanting to know what he’d find there. Looking away from the river and at the forested area he’d come through drew a sigh from his lips. “It is time for me to return home, but it is dark, and the way is...difficult.” That was not a lie.

“I will accompany you.” Hongjoong said it so quickly that Seonghwa was sure he’d misheard while picking up his bundles. 

_“Come again?”_

“I can walk by your side,” Hongjoong reiterated—slower, yet more firmly. The gentle, silver-white aura around him brightened and danced in the pretty abysses of Seonghwa’s pupils. “I have light to spare, after all.”

Seonghwa remembered to blink. “O-Oh, no, it is nothing serious...I will be fine. Surely you have better, more important tasks to attend to?” 

_“Always,”_ said Hongjoong. He smiled as Seonghwa flinched and failed to stop him from snatching away a bundle. “But those can stand to wait,” he continued while holding his new baggage uprightly. _“I will come with you.”_

  
  
  


Time seemed to slow. The first minute or so, Seonghwa felt lucidly: he pointed Hongjoong in the general direction they were walking, and thanked him profusely (though the being from Above didn’t want his prayer—not in the morning, at midday, or even the evening). What Hongjoong wanted was simply to talk, and so they did. Every second after that was lost to Seonghwa in a mist. Thanks to Hongjoong’s light, they easily stepped over fallen trees, half rotten logs, and boulders slimy with moss. He knew that. And he knew he told his life story, and Hongjoong told him how natural phenomena came to be, about sunsets and thunderstorms and eclipses. But how long they conversed he couldn’t tell exactly. It felt remarkably long, too long for the modest distance home. Cicadas droned on, as was usual for summertime, but they seemed far away; Hongjoong’s laughter was easily summoned, and it was a sound that demanded to be listened to. Branches that pricked clothing and skin were barely felt, and in the lunar-like glow, Seonghwa even had a fleeting thought that those long-time annoyances were delicate, intricate, interesting...

Perhaps there was something in the moonlight.

When the pair finally reached the clearing, Seonghwa’s footsteps crunched pebbles alone before falling silent. Hongjoong had stopped. The shape of the humble stone wall snaking around Seonghwa’s property could only just be detected, lying in shadow a ways in front of them. “I think this is where I must leave you,” said Hongjoong.

“Will we meet again?”

Hongjoong smiled at Seonghwa. Sincere, mortal Seonghwa who had a life more complicated and fragile than his own; whose heart wasn’t hard to read, but had a mind that Hongjoong wanted to figure out. “I will see what I can do.”

***

And so every evening, Park Seonghwa went to the river. 

Summer came and went, and came back again, but Hongjoong was nowhere that he could see. 

Thousands upon thousands of nights passed with just the moon and the river, but Seonghwa didn’t stop. He even prayed; he couldn’t help it. 

  
  


***

When Seonghwa became bedridden, the rest of his health declined soon afterwards. And when it was time for him to die, his grown daughter sat at his bedside and wept. He’d lived a long life; he’d outlived her mother. But it was a shame that his mind had gotten damaged. He couldn’t even say goodbye to her. 

His last words were _moon_ and _river._

She didn’t understand. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> please pray for my motivation, I knew part 2 would be hard, and a pain to write but man...this is why i don’t do chaptered stuff smh


End file.
